Colin Morgan won’t forget the shoot of award-winning Irish film Parked in a hurry: “We had 21 days, which was initially the main challenge for everyone. We were filming in January 2010, which, as people will remember, was one of the coldest winters we’ve ever experienced.”

Cold weather aside, it was a wonderful experience for the Armagh-born actor: “We had a great group of people. Darragh O’Byrne the director is a very passionate guy, he had worked on this project for several years with his friend Ciaran Creagh. As I read it, I fell in love with it too, I felt passionate about the characters and getting the chance to work on it was fantastic. When you love something so much and you get given the chance to do it justice, hopefully, you have got to grab it with both hands.”

Morgan plays Cathal, a drug addict, who along with Colm Meaney’s character, Fred, is living out of his car. He explained how he prepared for the role: “Prior to filming, we had done a lot of research; Darragh and myself went to a drugs rehabilitation centre and got a lot of the technicalities about drug users and drug use. So when we got started up, we felt that we were pretty much on the ball.”

“Getting to work with Colm was for me a huge delight. He’s an acting legend and working with him in such close proximity was fantastic and we worked really well together. It flew by, it was such a quick shoot – tough and challenging but in the end I think it was very successful.”

READ MORE @ RTE.

Firstly, Colin is really tall. Then comes the pleasant discovery that he is in fact far better looking than Merlin! Somehow, he just looks more chaotically boyish and masculine; like a young Gregory Peck in the film How the West Was One. He is wearing a casual, blue and white check shirt, which just reinforces this idea, and hints at his love of being outside in nature, admiring sloths and bears. He would make a terrific cowboy. Then there are the eyes, which are very blue, lively, intelligent and inquisitive – but the hair is a revelation! Forget the glassy, smooth mop of the young wizard – Colin’s hair is thick, curly and plain unruly. In fact, he looks like he has just got out of bed! Which he probably has, as he has been up for hours, graciously conducting interviews on Skype for the world’s press, and answering such riveting questions as ‘what is his favourite pizza topping’, and ‘how would he like to spend a first date’.

Morgan is an appealing mix of raw, natural talent, and a rare maturity and thoughtfulness, perhaps fuelled by the self-knowledge that he is only too aware of the extraordinary journey it has taken him to arrive here at all.

“When I first started playing Merlin, I relied on instinct and my own experiences,” he says. “ I thought about what it must be like not to be able to show who you are and what your greatest gift is in a world that persecutes magic. I guess you can relate that to a lot of things. For me it’s about wanting to be an actor, growing up in Northern Ireland; and not being able to express that desire, because the opportunities just aren’t there.”

READ MORE @ Ethical Hedonist.

Home > Merlin (2008-2011) > Series 1 > Promotional
Home > Merlin (2008-2011) > Series 3 > Behind The Scenes
Home > Merlin (2008-2011) > Series 3 > Episode Stills

Home > Merlin (2008-2011) > Series 2 > Promotional

Home > Merlin (2008-2011) > Series 2 > Promotional

Featuring exclusive bonus features – including a ‘making of’ documentary, commentaries, hilarious out-takes and deleted scenes – The Complete Fourth Series of BBC One’s Merlin is released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 23rd January.

> Read our review.

To celebrate, we’ve got DVD and Blu-ray boxsets to give away to five of our Twitter followers!

For a chance to win, just follow CultBox on Twitter and tweet the following text:

_{Win #MerlinSeries4Boxsets @cultboxtv http://bit.ly/w8GXyG}

Starring Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Angel Coulby, Katie McGrath, Anthony Head and Richard Wilson with John Hurt as the voice of the dragon, Series 4 sees the most dramatic change yet in the fortunes of our heroes and is the most exciting series so far.

> Buy the Series 4 boxset on Amazon.

With a thrilling mix of action, adventure, pure magic and the arrival of the fearless Knights of Camelot, Series 4 includes guest appearances by Gemma Jones (Spooks), Phil Davis (Doctor Who) and Nathaniel Parker (Narnia).

Winners will be selected at midday on Thursday 9th February 2012.

Terms & Conditions:
You must be resident in the UK to enter. Employees and contributors of CultBox.co.uk and their families are not eligible to enter. Only one entry per person is permitted. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The prize may not be transferred to any other person. No cash alternative or alternative prize is available on entrant’s request, but in the event of the advertised competition prize being unavailable we reserve the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or greater value. Entry in the competition implies acceptance of these rules. Prizes are 3 x DVD boxsets and 2 x Blu-ray boxsets.

Source: Cultbox.

Merlin has come a long way since its first season. This lighthearted, fun, and fantastical BBC show about the legend of King Arthur and Merlin before they became legends has earned a loyal following over the years. As SyFy gets ready to air the fourth season, which promises to take the show in a whole new direction, I took part in a conference call with actor Colin Morgan (Merlin) to find out what’s in store for the young warlock and his friends.

At the end of season three, Morgana (Katie McGrath) and her half-sister Morgause (Emilia Fox) failed to take control of Camelot. Morgana continues to play a central role in the series, now as the head villain, and is intent on destroying the newly crowned King Arthur (Bradley James) with the help of the double-agent Agravaine (Nathanial Parker), Arthur’s uncle and closest adviser. It’s up to Merlin to continue protecting Arthur while still keeping his magical abilities a secret.

The relationship between Arthur and Merlin has always been the heart of the show. So it’s sad to hear that with Arthur as king, their relationship becomes strained in some ways.

“We see them grow apart a little bit, actually,” said Morgan. “There’s a new character called Agravaine, Arthur’s uncle who comes on the scene. He’s exactly where Merlin should be. It’s about Merlin trying to regain that position to try to get by Arthur’s side, to be there for him and to get him to make the right decisions.”

Merlin’s attempts, apparently, are not in vain. Morgan explains that his great power this season isn’t entirely magical. It’s in the power of words and Merlin’s growing wisdom, which Arthur does pay attention to.

“Arthur listen to him a lot more. You’re seeing Arthur in fact change the way he’s thinking sometimes because of what Merlin says,” said Morgan. “But they’re also growing a little bit further apart. So Merlin has to work awful hard to try and be heard.”

READ MORE @ Popitimal.

Drama
Downton Abbey
Doctor Who
Merlin
Waterloo Road

Home > Merlin (2008-2011) > Series 4 > Episode Screencaps > The Sword In The Stone: Part Two